Giant Robots
The Core of Japanese Mecha Anime

Sixty years have passed since the first giant robot animation, “Tetsujin28”, was broadcast. Animations featuring fiction robots (mecha anime) are now part of Japanese popular culture. Fictional ‘life-size’ robots, such as the ‘moving Gundam’ that appeared in Yokohama, exist in major Japanese cities and are now part of the everyday landscape.
From the pioneering robot animation of “Tetsujin28” (1963), followed by the huge success of “Mazinger Z” (1972), and under the influence of “Mobile Suit Gundam” (1979), which breathed new life into the robot animation trend, numerous macha anime series have been produced and fascinating robots have been designed up to the present day.
The evolution and expansion of these unique designs, which cannot be seen in animation from other countries, has fascinated fans with the ingenuity of the design and settings used to give visual ‘reality’ to the absurd robot of fantasy.
This exhibition examines the history of robot design and visual expression in mecha anime from “Tetsujin28” to recent years, with focus on the ‘machanism’ and ‘size’ of the settings that played an important role in creating ‘reality’. We hope that this will provide on opportunity to think together with the audience about ‘what is a giant robot.